Yesterday, the New York-based singer, songwriter and acclaimed pianist Jon Regen premiered his new song "East Side Blues" on BBC Radio 2's The Jazz Show with Jamie Cullum. The album, produced by Jamiroquai's Matt Johnson, is now available for pre-order and includes instant downloads of that track along with "Wide Awake," "Higher Ground" and "Who Cares If Everybody Else Knows."
After playing the song, Cullum remarked, "Not only is he a great musician and songwriter, but he's a real, true supporter of other musicians... he does that whilst making pretty sick music himself!"
"This one started-out as bluesy piano riff on my Steinway grand piano," Regen explains. "My producer loved it so much we turned it into a full-blown song, complete with horns, funk bass, and a ripping organ solo by my old friend Ricky Peterson (David Sanborn, Fleetwood Mac). At the final hour, we added the chant and street noise you hear throughout the track as a nod to my many years in New York. It truly is the city that never sleeps!"
Recently, Billboard premiered Regen's single "Who Cares If Everybody Else Knows" that includes musical performances by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran and J*Davey Faragher of Elvis Costello and The Imposters, saying "Higher Ground covers a great deal of ground on its 11 tracks, including nods to Regen's hero Bruce Hornsby, to Steely Dan and to his taste for synthy new wave."
Forbes premiered the album's title track "Higher Ground," which features a cameo from Regen's son Gabriel.
The first track released from the album, "Wide Awake," was praised by Jazziz and Parade who praised the "enthusiastic, optimistic track" with "smooth as silk vocals and a jazzy groove."
Higher Ground follows Regen's 2015 release Stop Time that received acclaim from AllMusic, The Associated Press, NPR Music, Paste Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and more. The 11 tracks that comprise the new album were mixed by famed engineer Michael Brauer and mastered by 2019 Album of the Year Grammy Award-winner Greg Calbi (Kacey Musgraves). Other acclaimed guests on Higher Ground include bassists Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell), J*Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello & The Imposters) and Tim Lefebvre (David Bowie, Tedeschi Trucks Band), and drummers Keith Carlock (Steely Dan) and Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel). The entire album was recorded remotely, across different cities, oceans and countries.
11/4: REIGEN LIVE, Vienna, Austria
11/5: NU SPIRIT Bratislava, Slovakia
11/7: INGOLSTÄDTER JAZZTAGE, Ingolstadt, Germany
11/8: CONVENTUR ATRIUM, Börgerende-Rethwisch, Germany
1/24/20: SCULLERS JAZZ CLUB, Boston MA
1) Wide Awake
2) Hole In My Heart
3) Jupiter Calling
4) Higher Ground
5) Who Cares If Everybody Else Knows
6) East Side Blues
7) New Sensation
8) Every Night
9) Before
10) The Last to Go
11) Goodnight, New York
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